Celebrating 50 years of exemplary guitar making, the Taylor 614ce LTD 50th Anniversary Acoustic is a limited-edition guitar of which 614 guitars will be made. Master luthier Andy Powers' latest offering has a Sitka Spruce top, Bigleaf Maple sides and back, gloss finish, impeccable appointments and Taylor V Class bracing. This bracing is advertised as increasing sustain, and this guitar does not disappoint. West African Crelicam Ebony as the fret board and bridge material also contributes to sustain. Electronics are the Expression System 2 Pickup with volume, bass, treble control and a phase inversion switch for feedback reduction. This is a high-end guitar of fantastic quality and sound.
Maple tends to have a more precise, forward and focused sound than the more traditional mahogany or rosewood. Maple can have a hard sound, and Taylor has taken deliberate steps in the aging of the spruce top and bracing to counteract that characteristic. With the necessity of manufacturing heading towards sustainable tone woods, you will see more use of maple.
Grand Auditorium is one size smaller than the de facto standard dreadnought, and has become increasingly popular over the last few years. The Venetian cutaway enables players to reach the highest frets. Pictures do not do it justice—this guitar has a translucent white finish that shows the flame of a perfectly book- matched maple back, and a touch of white paint on the top blended smoothly at the edges of the spruce top gives a nice subtle shading similar to a sunburst finish. Taylor calls this Edgeburst.
The appointments of this guitar are definitely premium. The green abalone “Wing” neck inlays are a unique Taylor design. The sound hole rosette is also abalone. The headstock inlays are mother of pearl. The bridge is the Taylor swept wing design. The ebony bridge pins sport gold dots and match the gold tuning machines to celebrate the 50th anniversary.
The guitar plays beautifully as you would expect. Tuning and intonation is precise and this guitar shines for recording. The neck is a touch on the wide side, which is a giveaway that it is designed for finger style players, but still within a width that makes it good for any style. The action is a touch on the high side but still plays accurately and easily, even with the medium gauge strings the guitar shipped with.
I fell in love with this very special guitar. This guitar is a great addition to any player’s tool kit. MSRP list: $3,999.00
